[Oe List ...] Salmon: Summary of a Framework for Living.doc

[Isobel and Jim Bishop]

Good Morning or evening, colleagues, and Bill,
I was wondering what is the significance of moving the experience of  
care before the experience of consciousness-  I think I recall that  
on the OW Charts consciousness came before care.
I bet there is a good reason! can you enlighten me please?
In peace,
Isobel Bishop-- from sunny Australia, and Sydney.


On 10/11/2009, at 9:25 AM, W. J. wrote:

> The editorial Bill mentions is at
> http://www.salina.com/news/story/Mattson---Being-Gay-column-for- 
> Saturday--Oct--31--2009
> Marshall
>
> From: William Salmon <wsalmon at cox.net>
> To: Ecumenical Order <oe at wedgeblade.net>
> Sent: Mon, November 9, 2009 12:56:31 PM
> Subject: [Oe List ...] Salmon: Summary of a Framework for Living.doc
>
>
> Family, Friends and Colleagues:
>             The following was written as a summary of the class  
> work of the Friends of Trinity, a ministry of the Salina UMC as it  
> reaches out to the Gay/Lesbian/Queer community. Perhaps you’ll find  
> the insights interesting. Please dialogue when you have questions.  
> Bill
>
> WHERE WE’VE BEEN during the last 5 weeks – Building a FRAMEWORK FOR  
> LIVING utilizing “Four Platforms.”
>
> I.          Platform 1: What it means to be human
>             The human creation is characterized by four basic  
> experiences:
>             We Experience Mystery:
>                         We neither know where we came from nor  
> where we are going after we die. Our angst of our death is  
> experienced in any number of pen-ultimate ways, or ways that are  
> daily reminders that we will die; sometimes we die daily and we die  
> by inches. The hook used to remember this is The Land of Mystery..
>             We Experience Care:
>                         Each of us has a care for what happens  
> tomorrow; the insurance companies get wealthy on this human  
> concern. Each of us cares for what happens to us, to our families,  
> nation and the world. This formula is affirmed in the Divine  
> Commandment of Jesus to love our selves as we love our neighbors  
> and love God. The hook used to remember this is The Mountain of Care.
>             We Experience Consciousness:
>                         The one thing that distinguishes us from  
> all other creatures is our Self-Consciousness. The hook used to  
> remember this is The River of Consciousness.
>             We Experience A Sense of Peace:
>                         Another unique capacity of being human is  
> our ability to use our innate sense of Inner Peace even in the  
> midst of tragedy and stress. It is important to remind ourselves  
> that our sense of peace is not found in our circumstances, rather  
> this peace is found within us in spite of our life situations. The  
> hook used to remember this is The Sea of Tranquility.
>
> II.         Platform 2: Life is lived before only ONE REALITY
>             There is only one reality. It has been the same reality  
> since the dawn of consciousness. However, our perception of reality  
> changes as humanity experiences various paradigm shifts in  
> worldview. One such shift occurred during the time of the Early  
> Church ; afterward time itself was measured Before the Common Era  
> (BCE – or BC) and the Common Era (CE or AD).
>             A second major shift in consciousness came during the  
> 15th to the 17th Centuries known as the Scientific Method, the  
> Reformation, Industrialization, and the Renaissance. It is during  
> this period that religious language took on the characteristics of  
> science; every theological word became an object to be understood.  
> This period is understood using a two-story worldview with similar  
> characteristics used in Greek Dualism; Heaven is located outside of  
> the known (visible) horizon..
>             The current worldview began with the publication of  
> E=MC2 in 1917. At this moment our worldview took on the  
> characteristics of a UNI-verse; Heaven is located within us and is  
> experienced rather than understood.
>
>
> III.        Platform 3: Two kinds of People – Pigs and Persons
>             According to Socrates, Pigs are persons slopping  
> through life largely unaware of what it means to live authentically  
> human. On the other hand, Persons are those who live profoundly  
> awake and aware; these people stand and salute as life passes by. A  
> Pig is one who embraces his/her situation as a victim. A Person is  
> one who embraces her/his situation as a victor.
>             A working definition of what it means to be human is  
> that we fulfill our intended creation by, “Living the humane and  
> gracious life while working for justice and mercy.” It is  
> impossible to be humane and gracious without working for justice  
> and mercy.. In like manner, it is impossible to work for justice  
> and mercy unless we live humane and gracious.
>             The problem we experience in being HUMAN is that this  
> does not fulfill our intended creation. We are created to live in  
> At-One-Ment with all of creation and with all other creatures both  
> human and animal. TO BE HUMAN is to live by our natural  
> inclinations for self-preservation, safety, to be fed, etc.
>             However, there is the deeper, inward experience for  
> living the humane and gracious life. We experience this hundreds of  
> times every day, but we fail to name these experiences using the  
> words humane and gracious. As Christians we fail to name these  
> daily occurrences using the Christian lexicon of God, Christ, Holy  
> Spirit, Salvation, Hell, Sin, etc. As secular humane people we find  
> the words of Awakened or Awake to be helpful because of the  
> emphasis on our personal experience.
>             As Howard Thurman, mentor to Martin Luther King, wrote,  
> “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. Rather, we  
> are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
>             Or, as St. Augustine wrote, “We are restless, O Lord,  
> until we find our rest in Thee.”
>
> IV:        Platform 4: Ethical Living
>             Ethical Living is best understood in the formula of  
> What Would Jesus Do or WWJD. It is experienced in self-sacrifice or  
> in fulfilling At-One-Ment. It is when we live in harmony, in synch,  
> in tune, that we get the feeling that this is what it means to live  
> the humane and gracious life. It is at times like these that we  
> feel good about our selves, our neighbor and with Perfect At-One- 
> Ment which is one definition of God. Also, this is a definition of  
> the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
>             During this session we read a newspaper editorial  
> written by Mike Mattson on, “Why Can’t I Become Gay?” The  
> conversation pushed to the level that what Mr. Mattson did was done  
> without selfish motives, and it succeeded in raising for the Salina  
> community an important question. We understood his act to be a  
> demonstration of WWJD.
>
>             Inner Peace, ya’all,
>             Pastor Bill
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